"Honestly, I'm surprised at the number of people here who are bringing up the "he's just a kid" excuse. We don't accept that in "Families And Children," so why do we accept it here?"

Honestly, I'm surprised at the amount of vitriol being thrown at Mr. Bieber here. We don't accept that among ourselves, so why do we accept it in regards to him? I'd be more than willing to accept people saying that it's rude and even offensive what he did, but the outright name calling and abuse doesn't fit with an etiquette website. Are we really incapable of discussing his behavior without including words like "stupid" and "brat"?

"A 19yo is quite capable of learning to be respectful and circumspect when out in public."

Considering what I had to say here, I'm not sure I'd be so fast to cast stones.

Virg

Garden Goblin:
Way back when, a friend of mine was ridiculously obsessed over the current 'teen heart-throbs' of the time. Her family went to Europe. I don't recall if she toured the house itself or just an exhibit on it, but it affected her.

When she told me about it, she said, 'I know we read the book in school, but it never really clicked that she was an actual person. And I was standing in that place looking around her room and thinking how much she and I might have had in common. She was just a kid, the biggest worry of her life should have been whether or not was going to be the 9th caller and get the NKOTB backstage passes not 'if I sneeze right now is someone going to hear and get my family killed'"?

I am going to assume, charitably, that Mr. Beiber's train of thought was going on a similar line and just derailed at 'poorly expressed' station.

Diane AKA Traska:

--- Quote from: Garden Goblin on May 24, 2013, 04:34:07 PM ---Way back when, a friend of mine was ridiculously obsessed over the current 'teen heart-throbs' of the time. Her family went to Europe. I don't recall if she toured the house itself or just an exhibit on it, but it affected her.

When she told me about it, she said, 'I know we read the book in school, but it never really clicked that she was an actual person. And I was standing in that place looking around her room and thinking how much she and I might have had in common. She was just a kid, the biggest worry of her life should have been whether or not was going to be the 9th caller and get the NKOTB backstage passes not 'if I sneeze right now is someone going to hear and get my family killed'"?

I am going to assume, charitably, that Mr. Beiber's train of thought was going on a similar line and just derailed at 'poorly expressed' station.

--- End quote ---

The problem is, there is a galaxy of distance between "If she were alive today, she probably would have been a fan of the same music as her peers" and "if she were alive today, she'd be a fan of me."

Surianne:

--- Quote from: Garden Goblin on May 24, 2013, 04:34:07 PM ---Way back when, a friend of mine was ridiculously obsessed over the current 'teen heart-throbs' of the time. Her family went to Europe. I don't recall if she toured the house itself or just an exhibit on it, but it affected her.

When she told me about it, she said, 'I know we read the book in school, but it never really clicked that she was an actual person. And I was standing in that place looking around her room and thinking how much she and I might have had in common. She was just a kid, the biggest worry of her life should have been whether or not was going to be the 9th caller and get the NKOTB backstage passes not 'if I sneeze right now is someone going to hear and get my family killed'"?

I am going to assume, charitably, that Mr. Beiber's train of thought was going on a similar line and just derailed at 'poorly expressed' station.

--- End quote ---

That's what I was thinking, too. To Beiber, the music of his peers *is* his music.